ROLAND GARROS

May 23, 2025

Arthur Fils

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Arthur. How are you feeling and how is the preparation going?

ARTHUR FILS: I'm feeling great. It's been one week that we are practicing here. Practicing pretty good with some great players. So, yeah, I'm feeling okay. I feel my game and ready to battle on Monday.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. You haven't won a match yet here at this tournament in the last couple of times you have played. You're obviously in a very different position now. You have won a lot of matches. You're higher-ranked. Do you feel a lot different? You have said you have been practicing with great players. Do you feel different this time?

ARTHUR FILS: Yeah, I feel different, for sure. I'm not going to try only to win one match here this year. I will try to win a couple. But, I mean, it's never going to be easy. It's a slam. It can be long. I have a tough opponent in the first round. So let's see.

Like I said, I feel good, and my game is feeling better and better. Like you said, I'm playing great tennis since two, three months right now.

Yeah, it's okay (smiling).

Q. Last year was your first full year on tour, I guess. How have the experiences you have had and kind of getting familiar with life on tour, how has that helped you and will help you in this tournament?

ARTHUR FILS: Yeah, I mean, I'm feeling great on tour. We have good guys into the locker room. I'm having great friends. My life on tour is pretty easy, pretty chill. Traveling is very easy.

Is it going to help me to win a match, I'm not sure (smiling). But yeah, if we talk just about my life, it's a good life.

Q. When you were younger you played tennis with glasses, right?

ARTHUR FILS: Yeah (laughter).

Q. Did you ever think to wear them now when? You could start a good trend or something.

ARTHUR FILS: I'm wearing contacts now, but when I'm out of the court, I'm wearing glasses again. Okay, next press conference I'm coming with the glasses (laughter).

Q. (Off mic.)

ARTHUR FILS: No, no, the glasses are going everywhere. It's not good (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Hello, Arthur. You said you feel good but a lot of French people are putting their hopes in you. How do you manage these hopes and expectations?

ARTHUR FILS: I think it's not bad when people hope in you. That means that people can reach higher. But I hope that I'll do well in the first round. I hope that there is going to be a good environment, and I hope that I'll do better and better as we progress through the tournament.

Q. Sorry to remind you of bad memories. You lost in the first round against Arnaldi. Does this make you grow? Does this help you progress? Do you feel better than last year?

ARTHUR FILS: Yeah, well, you know, the ranking isn't the same. The timing isn't the same, either.

I'm playing better than last year. I have more experience than last year. You know, it was a hard blow at the time, but it teaches you a lesson. And of course, I could lose in the first round of any tournament. Now I've got a little bit more experience and I know how to manage it better.

Q. For the last draw, other things that you're doing differently based on the fact that you managed perhaps badly in the past and that you will manage better in the future? The traps you're not going to fall into? Have things changed for you?

ARTHUR FILS: I'm training better. That's sure. That's not bad. I lose a lot less energy when I'm training. I train better. I'm not too nervous. I think that helps a lot.

What else can I say? I try not to lose too much energy, because when you're in Paris, it wears you out. You know, Philippe, we've got people who manage these demands on me. We have managed to do that quite well, I think. Not to spend too much time with the media, for a start. Sorry about that. But I could lose a lot of energy that way. Sorry about that (smiling).

Q. Arthur, can you tell us something about Garcia who said she was going to stop her career just after Roland Garros? Were you aware of this? Caroline Garcia. She said it was going to be her last Roland Garros. Can you say something about her, about everything she's accomplished and what trace she will leave on French tennis.

ARTHUR FILS: She's a fantastic champion. I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting it. I thought she was going to keep playing for a few years. But maybe she's got other goals.

It's sure we're going to miss her on the courts, in the tournaments generally. She's a wonderful person. She's a little older than me. She's not the same generation. I didn't grow up with her, but every time I meet her, it's always good. I hope that she has a great tournament here in Roland Garros. I hope she's going to have a very good last tournament.

Q. You were talking about losing energy to focus on Roland Garros. Is there another sporting event in the coming weeks that is going to put you off your game? I'm thinking about the League of Champions, for example. Have you planned your schedule accordingly? How do you deal with this at the end of the PSG?

ARTHUR FILS: Well, I plan to go to the match. But it's sure that this is a really big final, and I'm going to look at it in my room. But I'm not going to lose any energy with that. I hope not. But I will be right behind them.

Q. That means that you don't plan on playing that evening?

ARTHUR FILS: I've got to talk with Amelie. We'll see.

Q. That wasn't my question. My question was the first round against Jarry, was this something you're happy with or not? Do you look at how you've progressed? This is the hard part for you. Is this favorable? Do you prefer to start off hard?

ARTHUR FILS: I know Nicolas is going to be a very big match. He's a really good player, and I have to play a really solid match. The more complicated matches you have in the first round then you feel better as you progress. So if I've got complicated matches, match after match, that's good.

I'm going to concentrate on the first round and then I'll see afterwards.

Q. Somebody said there were lots of players now who are afraid of you, who didn't want to affront you on the court. Do you think the people's perception of you is changing especially since the beginning of the year and season, which has been rather hard? Do you have the feeling that when you go into a court that people are apprehensive?

ARTHUR FILS: I'm calm about this. If somebody wants to play with me or not, I don't care about that. I want to play against him and I want to beat him. I don't pay attention to the rest. It's always the same when you play well.

When you look at the tournament and if I'm playing badly and I see Sinner coming up against me, perhaps maybe the other way around somebody's afraid of me and if that's the case, then all the better.

It's always a little battle that you win with yourself before going onto the court. If somebody is afraid to play with you before going on the court, then all the better.

Q. A strange question but I think somebody said they couldn't train with somebody before this morning, Draper said he couldn't find a left-handed person, and he's paranoid sometimes as a left-handed person, it's difficult for him. Is this less complicated for the new generations? I wanted to know, do you avoid playing with left-handed people or do you care?

ARTHUR FILS: I don't care. I play with Ben all the time because I get on really well with him. I can practice with him. I don't care at all. On the contrary, it's all the better to play with people who are left-handed.

I play with Ugo when I can. When we can, we play together. With Manu as well. I really don't have any bother whatsoever. I play with left-handed people. I have seen articles that it's hard to be a left-handed player on the tour, but then this guy should call me. We can train together.

Q. I had a question about the court you're going to play on. If it was something difficult for you, Chatrier is very big than some of the smaller courts and a lot hotter. Did you think about it and did it play a role for you in the first round?

ARTHUR FILS: It didn't play any particular role for me (laughter). I don't know what to say.

Q. (Off mic.)

ARTHUR FILS: I just wanted to play on the 5 over there at the end.

Playing on one of the two big ones in terms of the sensation, it's the same. I've never played a match in Suzanne or Chatrier. We're going to see. I'm not the one who is going to decide that. I don't care where I'm going to play or when. But it's a good question.

Q. Just to come back to the public's expectations, Ben Shelton told me a few weeks ago you were the new showman of French tennis. With the occasion of playing on the bigger courts, new starters this year, do you want to put on a show?

ARTHUR FILS: When I go onto a court, do I want to have a show? No, not necessarily. But with my way of playing, et cetera, quite often you get good points, you have spectacular moments, and I think the public likes that. I think that's good for the public when they come to see matches, sometimes matches in five sets that can be really long. If it's not too boring for the public, then that's good. It's fun.

And of course I don't try necessarily to please them, but I think like Ben, with my way of playing, it's a bit spectacular, or like Gael.

So you can put us in the category of showman, but I'm not trying to be a showman.